Is space infinite?

When I was a kid my dad use to say space was never ending, infinite. He would ask how could it end and say if you were flying through space and came to a big wall with a sign saying this is end of space, what is on the other side?

More space.

When you are a kid infinite is a hard number to wrap your head around. If space is infinite then stars and planets and LIFE is infinite right?

I mean if you have a one in a quadrillion chance of intelligent life evolving on a planet you would still have an infinite number of quadrillions and an infinite number of the one that has life.

It seems there would be a 100% chance of another planet with intelligent life, we just have not discovered it.

So does space have an end or even a beginning? And if it does have an end what is on the other side?

a reply to: imsoconfused

Hey, I'm still trying to recover from the time decades ago when it was announced that those 'smudgy stars' we thought were just a long ways away and therefore out of focus on telescopes of the day were actually freekin' GALAXIES - BILLIONS OF THEM. My concept of reality increased in size by orders of magnitude in that second.

I've concluded it's best to not try to wrap my 3 lb. brain around certain questions - that includes the concepts of 'infinity' and 'god' which may very well be the same thing.

Edited to add, I'm still wondering if there's intelligent life on THIS planet. And if you want to worry about something, worry about how many planets have intelligent life on them them that are millions of years ahead of us technologically. If they show up and are warlike, we're doomed, Hollywood notwithstanding.

a reply to: imsoconfused

The way my brain has decided to interpret this is:

The universe (all the galaxies, stars, planets...) is finite, there is only so much of it. But the space/void/ether/whatever that the universe is expanding into is infinite.

It works for me and keeps my head from exploding, feel free to use it if you like.

From the Moon to infinity, a little perspective, still doesn't make the brain go...Aha, now i get it.

a reply to: imsoconfused

The thing is yeah space is big but what we forget is time is long as well.
What are the chances in the great amount of time that two fleeting species will bump in together at the same place and same TIME.
How many destroy themselves or just get wiped out? how long do they go on?.
I hope we get to find out but the chances just in time to meet them I dunno...

a reply to: TheKnightofDoom

I reached the end of the internet and they said it couldn't be done.
I will let you know when I reach the other side of the universe.

a reply to: SentientCentenarian

Textworry about how many planets have intelligent life on them them that are millions of years ahead of us technologically. If they show up and are warlike, we're doomed,

There would have to be an infinite number of them and an infinite number of ones millions of years more advanced then them.

So if that is the case there is no way they dont know about us and we are definitely being harvested.

originally posted by: imsoconfused
So does space have an end or even a beginning? And if it does have an end what is on the other side?

This thread seems like a duplicate of the one made just a few days ago asking if space was infinite:

Infinite vs. Finite Universe
The answer is, nobody knows if the universe is infinite or not, and it doesn't seem likely we will ever know since we apparently can't observe past the observable universe which is finite.

As one astronomer put it, it is "not profitable" to try to answer such questions for which no answer is known and likely will never be known, though maybe it's fun to think about anyway.

If you look at the environment through a fractal lens, you'll find that the construct of existence repeats itself from micro to macro or vice versa. As above, so below can be taken vaguely or from an atomic standpoint, the vacuum of space in between heavenly bodies would represent the space between atoms.

Quantum fluctuation, the uncertainty principle and particle annihilation provide deeper insight into whether our own universe is a finite bubble, which may form bonds with other finite universes. I also wonder if our universe, in it's entirety, will one day meet it's anti-verse, cancelling or transporting our reality to another dimension.

It's fun to speculate where particles annihilate to and some even believe that our existence maintains a constant state of relapse and remission with another plane of existence, "charged" with balancing our own. As Walter Russell would say, "rhythmic balanced interchange."

Planets and whole galaxies die or get sucked in, this universe maybe not infinite, but they must feed something.

My conclusion is yes, the multiverce is infinite in they way it ether dies or transforms/energy etc.

To me, if space and time were created at the moment of the Big Bang and the universe is still expanding then it has to have an end or border.

Of course I am no cosmologist but I just feel the Big Bang theory is somewhat incorrect.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Wouldn't it be impossible to even find out is space expanding faster than light?.
Or did I just get that completely wrong?.

originally posted by: Mianeye
From the Moon to infinity, a little perspective, still doesn't make the brain go...Aha, now i get it.

The multi verse at the end was cool as well as the cosmic web. Thanks for sharing that.

originally posted by: TheKnightofDoom
a reply to: Arbitrageur

Wouldn't it be impossible to even find out is space expanding faster than light?.
Or did I just get that completely wrong?.

Don't feel bad about getting it wrong, it's very confusing, but according to this paper, we can see galaxies that have, and always have had, recessional velocities greater than the speed of light, which seems bizarre, doesn't it? It's so confusing that even some textbooks are misleading or wrong.

Expanding Confusion: common misconceptions of cosmological horizons and the superluminal expansion of the Universe

We use standard general relativity to illustrate and clarify several common misconceptions about the expansion of the universe. To show the abundance of these misconceptions we cite numerous misleading, or easily misinterpreted, statements in the literature. In the context of the new standard ΛCDM cosmology we point out confusions regarding the particle horizon, the event horizon,the “observable universe” and the Hubble sphere (distance at which recession velocity = c). We show that we can observe galaxies that have, and always have had, recession velocities greater than the speed of light.

In spite of that, the paper does confirm there are limits to what we can observe, and thus we are unlikely to answer the questions in the OP.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

I really wish I had the Brains dude .
That's dark matter isn't it? (theoretically) pushing or expanding the space in between us and those galaxies?.

originally posted by: TheKnightofDoom
a reply to: Arbitrageur

I really wish I had the Brains dude

.
That's dark matter isn't it? (theoretically) pushing or expanding the space in between us and those galaxies?.

As far as i can tell, yes, dark matter must have a big part to play as we cannot observe it in its entirety, just yet, Everything has a terminal velocity even light, ie light speed, dark matter has eluded us and can move beyond what we know..just my view (for now).

a reply to: imsoconfused

Some people believe it's like that Startrek episode with Moriarty. He escaped the illusion into the real world, and stepped outside the holodeck.

Piccard was able to place him back into his own reality unbeknownst to him, with his wife, thinking they were travelling through space to planets unknown. In reality, Moriarty was in a small box filled with the Infinite to last him a lifetime of experiences.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: imsoconfused

The way my brain has decided to interpret this is:

The universe (all the galaxies, stars, planets...) is finite, there is only so much of it. But the space/void/ether/whatever that the universe is expanding into is infinite.

It works for me and keeps my head from exploding, feel free to use it if you like.

Your head doesn't explode trying to know what the space/void/ether/whatever is?

a reply to: Arbitrageur


If the Universe was finite then their could be nothing infinite within it. Since Pi looks like it is an infinite number, then can we conclude the Universe is infinite?. Then using the same logic, in an infinite Universe nothing finite can exist in it. So everything is infinite.

a reply to: imsoconfused

Another way of looking at it. If the Universe goes on forever, then it has always been there and it follows that life has had pretty much forever to spread just about everywhere.

They are trying real hard to measure the spectra of nearby planets through the sliver of atmosphere to detect if there is evidence of industrial pollution signifying technological development.

Thats a big if and expensive to pursue, but they're doing it.